It's the 28th of the month and payday for me tomorrow. Just after midnight tonight, a £00.93 bank account balance will change by automatic credit transfer, into what will be next months outgoings & living expenses.

This has been a long month (from my financial perspective) for a few reasons, and I remember the days of being given a brown envelope every friday filled with cash. Those were good days, and I preferred it to be honest.
Some of my builder friends are still paid in cash now though, and even on a daily basis sometimes.

This is dying out even more though as banks make it more costly to handle cash, and certainly in the UK the whole monthly thing developed as employers realised the costs of weekly transactions - including electronically. I remember the change from cash to a stupid paper cheque/check which had to be physically paid into my bank account then took 3-5 days to clear - just before the coming of electronic bank transfers.
The UK government is even in the final stage this year of replacing all benefit payments from weekly to fortnightly/4 weekly bank transfer for the same reason - multiply bank transfer payments by 6 million or so people and I can see why!

I still prefer cash though and will take all my money out again over the next few days then spread it over the month. OK it's not as safe as being in a bank (or is it always? - another topic maybe!), but a few weeks ago I was waiting in line at a store when their payment system crashed and only people with cash could be served - there were 2 of us out of perhaps 25-30 people...and I chuckled quietly to myself

Anyway, just wondering how are you paid? Cash, bank transfer, weekly, monthly, or invoice if you're self employed?

**EDIT** Didn't look carefully enough when casting my vote and I chose "Monthly - Cash" when it should have been "Monthly - Bank Transfer" - FAIL! ...although I take it all out in cash which is unusual in my peer group/social circles so it's almost right

Ghost Rider103

I'm self-employed web designer and work for a few different clients. So depending on when I complete whatever project I'm working is when I'll get paid.

I usually send an invoice out through PayPal. So my payment is, in a sense, transferred to a bank account (online bank). From there I usually split some of the money up. I'll transfer most of it into my local bank account, and the rest I'll leave in my PayPal, which is usually just my whatever money I guess you can call it. Just used for random things I don't exactly need. The other money I put into my bank is usually for saved money and/or payments on certain things.

I prefer to just be able to use my debit card for everything (PayPal does offer a debit card), otherwise I feel like I'll just use whatever cash on me.

It sure would suck to loose a wallet full of cash. Lol.

watersoul

Ghost Rider103 wrote:

It sure would suck to loose a wallet full of cash. Lol.

You know that!
Defintely "state of alert" changes depending on the amount of cash carried! Lol

Ghost Rider103

Agreed. I do sometimes carry cash on me, but not too often.

I find myself checking to make sure my wallet is still there if I have a lot of cash in it, lol.

Luckily, I've never lost my wallet before (*knocks on wood).

watersoul

Thats one of the downsides of cash, but then the electronic system has let me down before a few times, such as being unable to pay for anything for a weekend, plus the other example in my first post.
Thats kind of why I'm curious how many here are still paid in low-tech ways - some might have no choice but to carry their weeks wage in cash at a set time each week - total security risk, I remember being well alert at 5pm on Friday's walking home years ago!

c'tair

I get paid every two weeks. I'm gonna get paid by check now, but soon I'll start recieving direct deposits ie. bank transfers.

I find the banking system in the US very archaic when compared to the European one - Americans are still using checks, they can't pay for something online as easily and instead have to use paypal or credit cards etc. Very inconvenient.

watersoul

Thats surprising to me about the US still heavily using check/cheques. I sort of assumed that it had started on the other side of the Atlantic and we followed on. Many places won't even accept cheques in the UK anymore, and there's been many reports that the intention is now to get rid of them altogether: BBC News - End of cheque payments to be looked at by MPs
I'll be glad to see the back of them, cash is instant, electronic is instant, cheques are slow and no real guarantee that the money is definitely going to be there until after a few days of waiting. I even had a work paycheque "bounce" on me once a few years ago, I really needed that wage that day and was absolutely raging angry at the ATM! lol

standready

I have been paid weekly, bi-weekly, 15th/end of month and invoice. Have received a check and had direct deposit. I did not like the direct deposit because exposes my personal information to others. I opened a special account for this deposit. Money NEVER stayed there.

watersoul

standready wrote:

I have been paid weekly, bi-weekly, 15th/end of month and invoice. Have received a check and had direct deposit. I did not like the direct deposit because exposes my personal information to others. I opened a special account for this deposit. Money NEVER stayed there.

Good idea, think I would probably do the same if I was in that situation.

dapopeyoh

I work in a supply company. We supply building and construction materials. I carry cash most of the time especially when I go to make a purchase or when I go to receive payment. I also get paid by monthly cash.

mark1230

well i earn my money through internet and i am looking for a permanent job right now i am paid via cheque and paypal and also credit cards

watersoul

dapopeyoh wrote:

I work in a supply company. We supply building and construction materials. I carry cash most of the time especially when I go to make a purchase or when I go to receive payment. I also get paid by monthly cash.

That made me chuckle, almost every builder friend I know uses (and prefers) cash

mark1230 wrote:

well i earn my money through internet and i am looking for a permanent job right now i am paid via cheque and paypal and also credit cards

Good luck with the job search, and if you can continue to keep the internet earnings as a side-line thats got to be a good boost for your bank balance.

c'tair

watersoul wrote:

Thats surprising to me about the US still heavily using check/cheques. I sort of assumed that it had started on the other side of the Atlantic and we followed on. Many places won't even accept cheques in the UK anymore, and there's been many reports that the intention is now to get rid of them altogether: BBC News - End of cheque payments to be looked at by MPs
I'll be glad to see the back of them, cash is instant, electronic is instant, cheques are slow and no real guarantee that the money is definitely going to be there until after a few days of waiting. I even had a work paycheque "bounce" on me once a few years ago, I really needed that wage that day and was absolutely raging angry at the ATM! lol

Yeah, it's terrible! Back in Poland or in Scotland I could to instant money transfers to anyone with a bank account - here I deposited my paycheck in the morning and voila, still no money on the account.

It still boggles my mind how a country like Poland could have a much faster, more reliable and even more secure banking system than the US. Come on, all you have to do to use some elses credit cards is get their number, expiration date and the CVV2 and bam, you've got all of his money to play with. How is that secure?

Ankhanu

I get paid bi-weekly with direct deposit into my bank account.
Very convenient.

macky

i get paid on a week by cash and it is really to have it on cash....

PGe-tips

the 4th last working day of the month a nice big ,sum is transferred onto my bank account ... nothing special I presume

Insanity

It goes straight into my checking account through direct deposit, which is when the employer sends it electronically or whatever into my account. I like this because it's much faster than actually getting a check and depositing it yourself, even though I realize that some people may actually like the idea of depositing something concrete instead of simply seeing on the screen and going, "Oh hey, I just got another $1000 richer." I can see where people would like that.

But I just think it's a lot less hassle, a lot more environmentally friendly, and somewhat safer for me, because I have a tendency to lose everything I own at some point in time or another. Also, I won't have to make that trip to the bank that I might not have to otherwise, therefore wasting another 20 minutes of my precious time.